Colorado Summit on Pediatric Home Asthma Interventions

Colorado Summit on Pediatric Home Asthma Interventions

This event was the fourth in a series of local meetings supported by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Colorado Summit was coordinated locally by the Colorado Healthy Housing Coalition, a group of federal, state, and local agencies working to further healthy housing in Colorado with a particular focus on reducing health disparities. The meetings are designed to promote the value of home-based assessments and interventions for children with poorly controlled asthma and to accelerate the creation of reimbursement mechanisms for these services by local/regional health insurance providers.

Children’s Hospital Colorado hosted the event featuring national policy strategists, administrators from the State of Colorado, and leaders of community-based asthma programs already receiving some level of reimbursement. Presenters and participants discussed methods, challenges and solutions surrounding efforts to build capacity for in-home interventions and make reimbursement a reality for Colorado.

One outcome of the August 2014 Colorado Summit on Pediatric Home Asthma Interventions was the idea to promote awareness of existing codes that are being used to bill Medicaid for delivery of asthma-related services. Review the Medicaid Reimbursement Billing Codes for Asthma Care Services by State guide to see what is covered across different states, and then use this information to engage stakeholders in your state to advocate for expanded Medicaid and private payer insurance.

Key Federal Policies and StrategiesPaul Garbe, DVM, MPH, Chief, Air Pollution and Respiratory Health Branch, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Peter Ashley, DrPH, Director, Policy and Standards Division, Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development